Meaning & Origins

Apparently from the Norman male name Josce (Middle English Josse), which in turn is from Jodocus, a Latinized form of a Breton name, Iodoc, meaning ‘lord’, borne by a 7th-century Breton saint. The name was in use in England among Breton followers of William the Conqueror. However, although this was fairly common as a male given name in the Middle Ages, it had virtually died out by the 14th century. There is evidence of its use as a girl's name from the 16th century onwards in parishes with strong Puritan links, which suggests that it may have been associated with the vocabulary word joy; see Joy. It was strongly revived in the 19th century under the influence of popular fiction. It is borne by characters in Mrs Henry Wood's East Lynne (1861) and Edna Lyall's In the Golden Days (1885). Modern use may well have been influenced also by the common Irish surname derived from the medieval Norman male name. See also Joss.